The present invention relates generally to abrasive articles for abrading a work surface and, more particularly, to flexible abrasive articles.
Sheet-like abrasive articles are commonly used in a variety of sanding operations including hand sanding of wooden surfaces. In hand sanding, the user holds the abrasive article directly in his or her hand and moves the abrasive article across the work surface. Sanding by hand can, of course, be an arduous task.
Sheet-like abrasive articles include, for example, conventional sandpaper and resilient sanding sponges. Conventional sandpaper is typically produced by affixing abrasive mineral to a relatively thin, generally non-extensible, non-resilient, non-porous backing (e.g., paper, film etc.). Conventional sandpaper typically exhibits good initial stock removal (i.e. cut) but produces a relatively deep scratch pattern for a given mineral size, and generally has an undesirably short life. The short life is due in part to the non-porous nature of the backing, which tends to trap the debris generated during sanding. This trapped debris often clogs the abrading surface of the sandpaper, thereby preventing any further stock removal. Additionally, the thin, flat, slippery nature of conventional sandpaper makes the article difficult to grasp, hold and maneuver, and does not make sandpaper well suited for sanding curved, contoured, or textured surfaces.
Conventional sanding sponges generally include a resilient backing that is easier and more comfortable to handle and use than conventional sandpaper. In addition, conventional sanding sponges produce a finer scratch pattern for a given mineral size than conventional sandpaper, but produce less cut. Commercially available resilient sanding sponges include 3M™ Sanding Sponges, 3M™ Softback Sanding Sponges, and 3M™ Flexible Sanding Sponges, all available from 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,139 (Hong et al.), for example, discloses a flexible, hand-held sanding pad comprising a conformable, self-supporting pad having one major surface capable of providing temporary adhesive attachment for a sheet of pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated abrasive material and a handle means for maintaining the pad in contact with the hand of the user during use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,644 (Rich) discloses a sanding pad comprising a stiff rectangular backing sheet having through slits along closely spaced parallel lines, with the slits along each line forming most of the line and being spaced by a plurality of unslit parts of the sheet. A coating of abrasive granules is adhered along a first surface of the sheet, and a layer of resiliently compressible foam is adhered on and coextensive with a second surface of the backing sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,051 (Beardsley et al.) discloses abrasive foam articles comprising a flexible and resilient foam substrate having first and second major substrate surfaces, at least one of the surfaces having a plurality of open cells substantially across the substrate surfaces, the open cells having coatable surfaces defined by interconnected voids; and a plurality of abrasive particles adhered to the coatable surface of the open cells in a substantially uniform manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,113 (Minick et al.) discloses a flexible abrasive product comprising a flexible sheet-like substrate comprising a multiplicity of separated resilient bodies connected to each other in a generally planar array in a pattern which provides open spaces between adjacent connected bodies, each body having a first surface and an opposite second surface; and abrasive particles to cause at least the first surface to be an abrasive surface.
The industry is always seeking improved conformable flexible abrasive articles that are more durable, are easier to handle and use, have improved cut, produce finer scratches, and have a longer life. It would be desirable to provide a flexible resilient abrasive article that has improved durability over a wide range of abrasive grit sizes, has improved flexibility, has improved handling and is therefore is easy and comfortable to use, is easy and inexpensive to make, has improved cut, produces finer scratches than a comparable sheet of sandpaper, and lasts longer.